X-RAY TELESCOPES

MIRRORS
!

Grazing incidence mirrors (! = 0.1 - 3 degrees)! Gold or Iridium coating! Parabolic, hyperbolic or elliptical shape! 50-150cm diameter

POSITIONING

Earths atmosphere absorbs most X-rays! Positioned in a high earth orbit (> 30,000km)! Multiple concentric mirrors

DETECTION

X-rays produced by gas at millions of C e.g. supernovae, black holes! X-rays emitted at quantised energy levels! Quantised energies reveal the element that produced it or more about its motion

CHANDRA X-RAY TELESCOPE

Resolving power equivalent to being able to read a road sign at a distance of 19km! Entire aircraft runs on only 2000W of electrical power! Orbits at a height equivalent to 1/3 of the distance to the moon

Pulsar